Judah took Karin away from the crowd that was gathering to see this strange scene. They spent 5 minutes escaping from the crowd until they reached a street where not many people were passing by.
— Done! I think we're safe up to this point — Judah said with much agitation due to the long journey they had made.
— Judah Saito! Why do you bring me here? What are your intentions? — Karin said with an annoyed face towards her supposed savior.
— In… Intentions? I don't have anything like that in mind… —Saito said tiredly— I only saw you because there were too many people and you might attract the attention of the authorities.
— Ah! Well…. Thanks for that — she said with a blushing face and a little embarrassed.
Once Judah rested, he sat up and turned his gaze to Karin.
— Karin Were you hungry? If so, then I can buy some fried chicken for you.
— Really?! — She replied, getting very close to Judah with a very happy face. Then she stood up seriously — If you can give me 3 chicken legs then that would be fine.
Then a sound like a big lion was starving to death rang out from Karin's stomach.
— Well... If there are more, it is better —said the celestial blushing and turning her back on Judah.
Judah agreed, letting out a light laugh as he considered the surreal nature of the situation he found himself in. He decided to leave the hungry Karin to eagerly await the supposed feast he imagined. However, as he walked a few meters from the hiding place where he had left Karin, an uncomfortable thought crossed his mind: someone else had been searching for him since the moment of his escape.
— Damn! I forgot about Setsuna. Although… I don't think she'll keep looking for me.
Her hope immediately crumbled when a familiar voice echoed in the distance, shattering her thoughts like glass.
— Judah! There you are! — Setsuna shouted in a worried tone, approaching quickly. —Where have you been? Is everything okay?
Judah paused, turning to her with some discomfort.
— Yeah… I'm sorry, Setsuna — she replied, trying to remain calm while her voice revealed some nervousness. —Some business came up that I needed to take care of right then, and… well, I had to run away.
Setsuna looked at him with questioning eyes, crossing her arms as she maintained her worried tone.
— And what was that crowd of people you were heading to?
Judah hesitated for a moment, feeling the pressure of circumstances building up on him.
Judah looked away for a moment, searching for an excuse that sounded convincing. He knew he couldn't mention Karin's appearance, as it would complicate the situation even more. He took a deep breath and blurted out an improvised response.
— Oh well… I saw that there were a lot of people gathered there and it seemed strange to me. I thought it might be something important, like a warning or an emergency, so I went to take a look.
Setsuna watched him silently for a few seconds, as if evaluating every word he had said. Judah felt a drop of cold sweat run down his temple.
— And what was it? — she finally asked, in a direct tone.
— It wasn't anything serious, apparently. —Judah tried to sound nonchalant —They were just arguing about a supply that arrived late or something. You know how people get in tense situations.
— Hmm… —Setsuna frowned slightly, clearly not entirely convinced—. Still, you should have warned me before you disappeared like that. You made me worried.
Judah scratched the back of his neck, faking a rueful smile.
— You're right. I'm sorry, Setsuna. I didn't mean to worry you; it was just an impulse.
She sighed, relaxing a little.
— Okay, but next time let me know, okay? You worried me a little when you ran off.
— Okay. — Judah replied, relieved that the conversation hadn't taken a more complicated turn.
Judah felt a small weight on his chest as he saw Setsuna looking at him expectantly. He knew he had to find a quick excuse to go buy the chicken without her suspecting anything, especially with Karin hiding somewhere, waiting for him.
— Well, Setsuna —Judah said, trying to sound relaxed—, as I promised my family, I should go get some food. You know, a little treat. How about we go grab something quick and come back later?
Setsuna looked at him curiously, not entirely convinced, but she readily agreed.
— Okay, but don't take too long. I still have a few things to tell you.
Judah breathed a sigh of relief as he walked alongside Setsuna to a small food stand nearby. However, in his mind he only thought of Karin and how he was going to handle the situation. He promised to bring her fried chicken, but at the same time, he couldn't let Setsuna find out that Karin was waiting.
Arriving at the stand, Judah made a quick purchase of fried chicken, and while waiting for it to be prepared, he looked around discreetly. Suddenly, something caught his eye in the distance. Through the crowd, he could see Karin. She was arguing with a man selling hot dogs, her expression annoyed and somewhat agitated. It seemed that Karin had been eating almost everything in his cart, and the man, furious, was complaining to her.
Judah paled at the sight. The situation was getting out of hand. Karin, it seemed, was not as calm as he thought, and the last thing she needed was for Setsuna to find out about her, especially in this kind of conflict.
— Karin! —Judah muttered, taking a step back to get a little further away from Setsuna without her noticing.
But before he could make a decision, Karin, visibly uncomfortable, raised her voice even more, while the salesman pointed a finger at her, gesturing in an exaggerated manner. Judah felt his heart pounding. He couldn't just leave her there.
Suddenly, without a second thought, he started running towards her, intending to calm the situation down. But the moment he took the first step, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
— Judah! — Setsuna exclaimed from behind, surprised by his reaction.
Judah didn't stop, and with an instinctive impulse, he continued running towards Karin. From afar, he could see how the argument was escalating, and the man seemed more and more furious.
Setsuna, confused and somewhat alarmed, did not understand what was happening, but quickly decided to follow him.
— Wait, Judah! — she shouted, as she began to run after him, unable to stop wondering what was happening.
Judah could barely hear her. His only thought at that moment was to get to Karin as quickly as possible to prevent the situation from getting worse. However, what he didn't know was that this hasty rush was going to bring with it more surprises than he imagined.
When Judah arrived at the place, the man who was selling hot dogs was fluttering with anger because Karin, no matter how much she screamed, ate excessively as if she hadn't eaten for years.
— Hey! Damn girl! Stop swallowing my products! — The man said angrily while holding a hot dog in his hand.
In an unexpected act, the man threw the product that Karin was enjoying directly at her head. Judah, a witness to the scene, was paralyzed by nerves as he saw how that liquid hit and stained Karin's impeccable hair, as beautiful as it was immaculate.
The silence that followed was eerie, but it lasted only a moment. Karin stood up with a menacing aura that made the temperature in the room seem to drop. Her eyes flashed with a murderous glare, making it clear that she would not tolerate such an offense.
With a slow but furious movement, he raised his hand to the sky. At that moment, purple particles began to materialize around him, floating as if obeying his will. It was a scene straight out of the best power battle series.
Within seconds, those particles coalesced, forming a kind of glowing spear that radiated energy and danger. The tension in the air was palpable; anyone who was nearby could feel that they were witnessing the awakening of something much bigger than just a girl's anger.
— Karin! Wait, don't do this! — Judah shouted in an attempt to stop Karin and stand between the man and the unleashed celestial.
But it was no use. The celestial, consumed by anger, launched her power straight at the man. Nothing, not even the barriers of the world, could stand in her way without being annihilated. Judah, paralyzed by terror, closed his eyes in resignation, convinced that his life had come to an end.
The roar of power pierced the air, but suddenly, a metallic sound, like a sharp, dry impact, cut off all thoughts of doom. Judah slowly opened his eyes, confused and afraid, only to discover that he was still intact. What he saw took his breath away.
In front of him was the girl he had left behind. The same one who had been running after him moments before, carrying a large basket of food. But something was different. She was no longer just a simple girl who seemed harmless.
Now, standing before him, she held a glowing sword that seemed to have deflected Karin's attack with superhuman precision. Her figure emanated a majestic and serene aura, as if the chaos around her did not affect her at all. Judah could not take his eyes off her. The image was incredible, almost unreal, as if it had been taken from an ancient legend.
She turned her head slightly towards him, her eyes radiating a calm and determination that contrasted with Karin's unleashed fury. Without saying a single word, she made it clear that she would not allow anyone, not even a celestial, to cause harm while she was there.
— Setsuna? — Judah said in a tone of disbelief at what was happening.
— Judah Saito. Everyone. —With a firm tone in his voice—Leave here quickly and find shelter. This is going to be very dangerous.
The people watching the altercation soon abandoned the scene, fleeing in all directions. Even the sausage man, who had started it all, disappeared into the crowd, leaving his cart behind. Judah, still reeling from what had happened, quickly stepped aside, knowing he did not want to get caught up in the next battle that was about to break out.
It was then that Setsuna, with calculated calm, raised her arm, revealing a bracelet she was wearing on her wrist. With precision and speed, she began typing something into it. In a matter of seconds, her body was surrounded by an intense light that blinded everyone present for a brief moment.
As the light faded, Setsuna appeared in a futuristic suit of armor, similar to the ones in OASIS, but much more refined. The metallic black breastplate fit her body perfectly, with silver details and energy lines running along her torso. The shoulder pads were large and angular, with energy cables connecting to her back, showing that the armor was alive. Reinforced boots and gloves gave agility without losing protection, and the helmet, which revealed her glowing eyes, was adorned with technological runes. Her entire ensemble emanated unstoppable power.
Judah, who had moved a few meters away, watched with concern what seemed inevitable: the clash of two powerful presences. Suddenly, the communicator that had been given to him at his meeting with EDEN emitted a buzz, followed by a firm voice.
— Judah Saito! Can you hear me? — came from the other end.
— Lucius? What happened to my mother? — Judah replied in a hurried voice, not taking his eyes off the tension unfolding in front of him.
— Commander Hikari has left on urgent business, but we have detected strong dimensional emanations from the Hyperion — Lucius reported, with a note of urgency. — What is happening?
Judah, caught up in the growing gravity of the situation, began to recount what had happened, but before he got halfway through his explanation, a metallic crash shook the air. Instinctively, he looked up to identify the source of the noise. There, a few meters away, Karin, wielding her imposing sword, had intercepted Setsuna, who was dressed in gleaming robotic armor and brandishing a lightsaber that glowed with a menacing glow.
The clash of weapons generated such an intense shock wave that nearby objects were thrown into the air, and even Judah was dragged back several centimeters and even felt himself in the air.
— What the hell was that? — Lucius asked, his voice thick with unease after the crash.
— Is the surveillance drone ready to transmit the situation? — he added hurriedly.
— Yes, sir. We are deploying it right now.
Hyperion ship began transmitting real-time images of the confrontation. Karin and Setsuna engaged in a fierce duel of titanic strength, their swords clashing with such intensity that sparks lit up the surroundings like lightning in a storm. Each blow was a show of strength and skill.
Both fighters separated after a final clash, propelling themselves backwards with a synchronized jump that placed them several meters apart. However, it was not a truce. As soon as they touched the ground, Setsuna launched herself into the air to avoid further destruction and upon seeing this, Karin followed her with a penetrating gaze and keeping her eyes on the target.
Judah watched from the ground as Karin and Setsuna continued their fight with intensity. Setsuna with a quick movement, extended her arm towards Karin.
— Let's see you dodge this, — Setsuna muttered, as several compartments emerged from his armor, releasing a shower of guided missiles.
The projectiles whistled through the air, heading towards Karin at breakneck speed. Judah watched with his heart in his throat, waiting for his companion to react.
Karin was unfazed. In one fluid motion, she raised a hand and activated a translucent force field. The missiles exploded on contact, lighting up the area in blinding flashes, but Karin's shield remained intact. She didn't stop at nothing to defend herself, though. With superhuman agility, she propelled herself forward, weaving through the debris and remaining projectiles, until she was just a few meters away from Setsuna.
Setsuna changed tactics. She retracted her lightsaber and unleashed two energy cannons from her shoulders. The shots were fast and accurate, but Karin dodged them with an aerial dance that seemed to defy the laws of physics. And at that moment, Karin slashed with her sword, and Setsuna barely managed to block it with an energy shield. The force of the impact sent them both reeling back, creating another shockwave that sent Judah crashing to the ground again.
— Stop! — Judah shouted, struggling to his feet. His voice was ignored as the two combatants faced each other again.
Setsuna activated a new mechanism in his armor. Floating drones emerged from the sides and began firing energy blasts at Karin from different directions. Judah watched as Karin, with a quick gesture, deployed her force field once more, but this time something changed. Instead of simply blocking the shots, the shield began to reflect them, returning the attacks back at the drones, which exploded one after another in the air.
— This has to stop! — Judah exclaimed in the little voice he had.
— Judah, you cannot intervene directly, not under these conditions! — Lucius replied firmly, but also with a hint of concern. — These are two forces beyond your reach.
— But… — He said with the little strength he had left due to those shock waves.
Before Setsuna could react, Karin lunged at her. With impressive strength, she grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the ground with such brutality that Setsuna's armor emitted a metallic creaking sound upon impact. The ground cracked under the weight of the blow, and Setsuna lay there, coughing as she tried to get up.
— This ends here. — Karin said in a firm voice, pointing her sword at Setsuna, who was breathing heavily.
Judah felt a chill run down his spine as he witnessed the scene. Karin's eyes shone with a strange, distant glow. They were not the same eyes he had seen before, filled with warmth and determination. Without another thought, he ran towards the battlefield, dodging rock fragments and sparks of energy.
— Karin! — Judah shouted, running towards them.
Karin slowly turned her head towards him. Her gaze, cold and piercing, stopped him in his tracks. For a moment, it seemed as if she didn't recognize him. But then, something in her expression changed.
— Judah… —she murmured, as if he were waking up from a dream.
Taking advantage of the moment of distraction, Setsuna, though injured, activated an emergency system in her armor. A discharge of energy enveloped her, propelling her backwards and away from Karin.
— This isn't over! — Setsuna said in a weak but defiant voice, holding on with the little strength she had.
Judah stared at Karin, who slowly lowered her sword. The strange glint in her eyes seemed to fade, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.
— Karin, what's happening to you? — Judah asked worriedly.
Karin slowly stood up after being attacked, her movements clumsy and her right hand shaking as she held her head. A low moan, almost inaudible at first, turned into a piercing scream that echoed like a hellish sound. It seemed like something inside her was struggling to break free. Judah watched in horror as Karin staggered, her body surrounded by flashes of light and shadow that intertwined unnaturally.
Setsuna, still with the strength he had left, gritted his teeth and gripped his sword with both hands. Despite his injured state, the determination in his eyes had not diminished.
— You'll see, damn celestial! — Setsuna shouted, charging towards Karin with a leap, her sword vibrating with fiery energy.
— Wait, Setsuna! Don't do this! — Judah shouted desperately, reaching out his hand as if he could stop her.
But her efforts were in vain. Before Setsuna could reach Karin, she let out a roar so powerful that a shockwave exploded from her body. Setsuna was thrown back, her sword falling from her hands, and Judah was thrown to the ground as well, feeling the air escape from his lungs.
When Judah raised his head, what he saw left him speechless. A dense, dark aura emanated from Karin, like a living torrent that stretched into the sky, twisting and growing. The air around became heavy, almost unbreathable, as the dark energy began to distort space. A crack, black and pulsating, began to form in the sky above them, as if connecting this world to another completely unknown one.
— What… what the hell is this? — Judah whispered, terrified and confused at the same time.
On the Hyperion ship, the technical team was following the transmission in real time. The sensors were showing readings outside of any known range.
— Sir, the measurements are in line with previous calculations, —an analyst reported as his fingers flew over the keyboard —. But this intensity… exceeds any previous record.
Lucius stared at the screen; his eyes narrowed as he analyzed each piece of data.
— The boss was not wrong, —he said in a firm voice. — The protection of the celestials was never a mistake. This is exactly what we feared would happen.
— What do we do, sir? Should we teleport young Saito? — an operator asked, her hands shaking slightly on the controls.
Lucius nodded gravely.
— Do it. We cannot allow it to remain there when the situation could get worse.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Judah and Setsuna stared in disbelief at the rift in the sky. The torrent of energy emanating from Karin seemed to be drawing light itself into its center. The sight was mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time.
— This doesn't make sense, — Setsuna whispered, struggling to her feet and looking at Karin. — That energy… it's not heavenly.
Judah tried to reach out to Karin, his heart torn between fear and worry. But when his eyes met hers, he felt a chill. Karin's eyes were no longer the same—they had lost their characteristic warmth. Instead, a dark, empty glow stared back at him, as if something unknown had taken over.
— Karin… —he said in a small voice—. What's happening to you?
But Karin did not respond. She stood motionless, surrounded by that sinister aura that rose towards the crack in the sky. Suddenly, the dark torrent emanating from her seemed to intensify, expanding with a roar that made the ground tremble. A shapeless shadow began to descend from the crack, deforming and taking on an amorphous form that seemed to constantly change, as if it could not decide between flesh, metal, and pure energy.
Setsuna watched in horror as the creature emerged, its body overflowing with limbs and appendages that writhed in every direction. Its eyes, if they could even be called that, glowed with a deep red glow that seemed to pierce the soul of anyone who looked into them.
— Wha… what the hell is that? — Setsuna muttered, instinctively stepping back as she clenched her fists.
On the Hyperion ship, alarms began to blare from every panel. The data coming in from the sensors was incoherent, interrupted by bursts of corrupted information that made the screens flicker.
— Sir! Signals have become unstable! — one of the analysts shouted, his voice cracking with panic. —Something is interfering with our systems. The creature doesn't fit any known records!
Lucius, standing in front of the main screen, watched with a mixture of disbelief and recognition. For a moment, his face flashed with fear. He muttered something under his breath, so low that only he could hear it:
— Behemoth…
The weight of that name seemed to fall like a stone on the room. His expression changed to a steely determination as he turned to the technicians.
— Teleport Judah right now! —he ordered with a shout that echoed throughout the room.
— Sir, interference is making it difficult to stabilize the coordinates! — The operator replied.
— Do what you have to, but get him out of there!
On the battlefield, Judah felt the air around him grow thicker. The amorphous creature, Behemoth, let out a guttural roar that seemed to echo across multiple dimensions, and the ground beneath his feet began to crack. Setsuna, still in shock, watched as Judah suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.
— What!? — she exclaimed as she took a step forward, but the amorphous creature let out a shockwave that forced her back.
With Judah no longer present and Karin's aura completely consumed by the rift, Setsuna made an immediate decision. She pulled out her communicator and, with a voice firm despite her fear, contacted her organization.
— Commander Yukishiro — a voice from the communicator said — we detected extremely gigantic amorphous energies in your surveillance area. Report the situation immediately.
— This is Commander Yukishiro. I need Omega Squad at my location right now. We have a Dragon-class amorph active. I repeat: a Dragon-class active.
— Understood, Miss Yukishiro. Leviathan Squadron is on its way. Hold your position.
Setsuna took one last look at the rift and Karin, now completely enveloped in the dark energy, and then spread her robotic wings.
— There's no one else here. I'd better take advantage before this gets any further out of hand.
With a strong push, Setsuna soared into the sky, speeding away. Meanwhile, the Behemoth continued to grow, its shape constantly changing, and the crack in the sky expanded, as if it was calling out to something else from the other side.
On the Hyperion ship, Lucius watched the scene intently. His gaze was grim, but deep in his eyes there was something else: a knowledge he had not shared with anyone.
— This is just the beginning… —he muttered to himself as the screen showed the amorphous creature unleashed on the battlefield— I hope Commander Hikari and the boss are rigth with letting a child resolve this situation.